This invention relates to receptacles for holding batteries used to power a wide variety of electrical circuits in various products. More particularly, this invention relates to a receptacle with provision for ensuring that incorrect installation of the batteries will result in no electrical path through the batteries.
Batteries are used in a wide variety of products as a source of DC electrical power. All products having electrical circuitry designed to be powered by batteries have some type of battery compartment for physically containing the batteries and also for enabling electrical connection through the batteries between a positive output terminal and to a negative output terminal. Various numbers of batteries are employed in various products, and different electrical configurations are known and used (i.e., all series, all parallel, or series-parallel electrical connections).
In all applications, care must be taken to ensure that the batteries are installed with the proper polarity in order to ensure the correct electrical correction among the batteries. Incorrect installation of one or more batteries will usually result in an inoperable electrical circuit, which is inconvenient. However, in some cases, improper electrical connection of a plurality of batteries (such as a D-cell size set) can result in excessive physical deterioration of the battery and even an acid leak from one or more of the cells. In applications in which the battery acid can exude from the receptacle, a serious potential or actual danger can be presented.